Technology & Combat Characteristics
A direct successor to the OZ-06MS Leo, the MMS-01 Serpent was designed with the intention of being usable both on Earth and in space without having to switch equipment, as the importance of space combat became much more apparent after the appearance of the Operation Meteor Gundams. The only fixed armament of the Serpent were a pair of shoulder-mounted 8-tube missile launchers. The suit could also carry a variety of hand weapons, including a bazooka, a beam cannon, and a double Gatling gun similar to the ones carried by the XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Custom. However, the Serpent lacked any close combat weapons, putting it at a disadvantage if any enemy was able to come into close proximity. Defense wise, the Serpent was built using an alloy known as Neo-Titanium, a material that is half the weight and twice as strong as conventional Titanium alloys. The Serpent's cockpit is identical to the Leo's aside from enhanced targeting and lock-on systems, allowing its pilot to better make use of the suit's weapons.
History
After the appearance of the Gundams, the United Earth Sphere Alliance began developing the Serpent at the L3 colony of X-18999 and prepared to mass produce it there as well, an effort apparently funded by the Barton Foundation. However, when the war ended in A.C. 195, its development was halted. Taking advantage of the post-war chaos, the Barton Foundation took over the production lines.
Trowa Barton briefly piloted a Serpent while infiltrating the Mariemaia Army, although he abandoned it in favor of his Gundam after escaping X-18999. In Brussels, the Tallgeese III and Noin's Taurus, as well as three Gundams (Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock) fought a hard battle against more than four hundred Serpents. The Gundams and the Preventer mobile suits managed to disable most of the Serpents, leaving only around fifty, before exhausting their energy and ammunition. Following the death of Dekim Barton, the remaining Serpents dropped their weapons and surrendered.
After the end of the rebellion, Quatre mentioned that the Winner Family planned to melt down all remaining Serpents into Neo-Titanium and use them to reinforce colony walls.
